Wow, where do I even begin? Each day brings with it a multitude of issues, experiences, and problems- all of which I wish I had more time to think over and pray over. This past week, amongst all these other thing, I did have a realization that I've continued to come back to.

"If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists,  we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces.” -Frederick Buechner

"This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest."

-an excerpt from "A Future Not Our Own" by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw

As I've been thinking about what to write about in my blog this week, I find myself having to fight the urge to sanitize or clean up stuff I'm thinking about, to shy away from things that are messy- the things that I can't wrap up nicely in two or three paragraphs. I was talking with one of my friends yesterday who has an internship with an organization that provides information and assistance to Hispanic immigrants in Richmond and Virginia. Interested about her job and what she's learning there, I asked her about how her experiences there have changed, affirmed, or shaped her views on immigration in the US. I loved her response; she said that as she learned more about the issue, she realized more and more just how messy it is. Easy answers do not suffice. 

Last summer the beginning of my internship was marked with wonder, curiosity, and some shock as I slowly started to get to know this community. While I had tutored with CHAT weekly the past year, there was still so much to discover and explore. Now returning to Church Hill, I think my main feeling is "I'm so glad to be back." Seeing the students at tutoring Monday and Tuesday gave me so much joy, and I just can't wait for East End Fellowship this Sunday. I love riding my bike around and inevitably meeting someone I know, hanging out with students, and popping over to my neighbors' houses on a regular basis.

"Your eyes, O Lord, see in one glance the inexhaustible love of God and seemingly endless agony of all people who have lost faith and are like sheep without a shepherd... Lord, let me see what you see- the love of God and the suffering of people- so that my eyes may become more and more like yours, eyes that can heal wounded hearts." Ken Gire

So I've dubbed myself the official photographer of the 2008 CHAT internship (Bacon-get your battery! I need some help.) I've posted a ton of pictures on facebook, but for those of you who don't have an account, you can click on these links below to see some of what we've been doing this summer. You might have to copy and paste (not sure if it will automatically make it a hyperlink or not). I don't have that many pictures from the beginning (didn't want to scare people with my big camera) but I'm making up for lost time now. 

This internship has been challenging for me, as for the first time, I have seen poverty and its effects up close. Moving between Church Hill and the affluent West End where we take the kids for youth group and church, and where I go to school the rest of the eyar, has made me see the painfully obvious inequalities of our society and country with new eyes. I've come to realize that when I think of how God has been good in my life I think of things like how He has provided me with a stable Christian family, a good education, opportunities to travel to many parts of the globe, and the typical trappings of middle class suburia- piano lessons, yearly vacations, etc. When I see these kids from CHAT, who for the most part have had none of those things, I am forced to make a choice: either God has not been good to them, or my definition of God's goodness is way too small.

I have cause to celebrate for two reasons (well, much more than two reasons, but these are two big ones): VBS is over and all the forms for SB2dub camp have been mailed in. The past week has consisted of picking up kids for VBS, teaching VBS, getting them all home, and then going door to door collecting forms, hunting down parents and health cards all over the city. I am absolutely exhausted, but it's been a good week. The A-Team (Aaron Thomeer, Alecia and I) have had some good bonding, the kids loved VBS (they would fight on the way over who would be the last one dropped off-why they wanted to stay on the hot bus longer, I don't know!) and we learned a lot of ridiculous songs, complete with hand motions. I've gotten to know my way around Richmond much better, courtesy of getting hopelessly lost several times.